4 Contract

"Darius, this—" I gestured to his yacht, to the captain behind the steering wheel, the crew talking quietly to each other as if I wouldn't notice they were gossiping about me, "—all of these doesn't make sense to me."

"Then allow me to explain." Darius cleared his throat after chugging out the beer he's been holding in large gulps. By the way, he was drinking; I got a hunch that he must be gathering more courage before he tells me something I would regard as bullshit.

"I'm listening. Better make it worthwhile." I folded my arms and kept my face neutral and when I say 'neutral', I put my resting bitch face on. I tapped my foot on the floor deck impatiently.

"My mama," Darius said roughly. "You were close to my mum, right?"

"Yes, that's way back when I was grade school when we were still neighbors," I told him a matter-of-factly.

Darius scowled. "She likes to drink tea and eat biscuits with you at our veranda while you pretend you are my Ma's spoiled daughter princess and she was acting like the Queen of England."

"Yeah, I remember her dressing me up buying me gowns and all the girly shit. Combing my hair and singing me to sleep in the afternoon when I come over to your house during 3rd grade. She didn't want me to go home."

"She was obsessed with you." Darius' eyes roamed around my face as if looking for any clues why his mom would be obsessed with me.

"I know, even other kids in our neighborhood find her creepy, no offense, but I don't," I said sadly. "I love your mom, Darius, even though it's kind of weird. She hadn't harmed me or anything. I don't know the story behind your mom's mental illness but I hope she's doing well now."

I remembered that Darius' mother, Giselle, had to be tied down when Darius' family moved to Greece for senior high school because she wanted to take me with them. Just like Darius did this time. That was ten years ago.

"She's okay except for the doll collection." Darius sighed in a resigned manner. "She knows all of their names and she talks to them before going to sleep. We just leave her be."

"It's okay as long as she hadn't harmed anyone," I replied. "She hadn't gotten to that point where she tried to kidnap children, right?"

"Not yet but maybe she will in the future."

What was that supposed to mean?

I nodded slow and wary, looking at Darius. "Her fixation on kids or dolls was probably an extreme motherly instinct. Did she lose a baby before? Miscarriage? Nobody told me anything. Even the nannies were hush-hush about your mother and your entire family."

"Of course, they are quiet about it. They are paid to do their work at the mansion, not gossip on petty issues or strange fetishes of the family to neighbors." Darius jaw rolled with muscle. "You know that we came from Greece and we transferred to England because my mom had been dealing with post-partum depression at that time."

"She wanted to have a female baby after having four sons. Mom was very elated during the ultrasound knowing that she's having a baby girl. It was a miracle. She was very careful and meticulous with her pregnancy wanting the best for her future daughter." He said.

'Then why did she lose it?'

I was really curious.

"She ate healthily, exercised regularly and she was very diligent with keeping up with her schedules, and maintained good habits. Dad made sure everything was going well. Mom was bursting with love and her smile was glowing the whole time." Darius breathed a deep sigh. He swallowed, and he looked at me, his face open and worn. "Mom was so excited and was already buying the baby's frilly pink clothing laces, shoes, toys, the room, the crib but everything fell apart when Mom fought with Dad. "

Oh god, I just knew it in my gut that this happy story would go downhill very quickly.

"There were no signs of abuse or physical assault but mom took a wrong step while they were arguing and she fell down the stairs." Darius' voice was rougher from this confession. I turned and took in his sad and mournful face. He saw me looking and shrugged, "She was unconscious, broke one arm and her ankles were swollen. She was lifted to the ambulance, sent to the hospital and she lost so much blood that it was either they remove the six-month-old stillborn baby from the womb or let my mother die."

He paused a long stretch after that, giving me time to let it all sink in.

"Of course, Dad loved my mom so much more than the baby so he chose her instead. When my mom knew after the surgery that she lost her precious baby, she became distant and resentful at my dad and they almost divorced because she blamed him and his jealousy."

Darius lifted his head and held my wrist. It wasn't a full moment after that Darius' hand uncurled from my skin and fell from me. His eyes fell to my mouth and he shook his head.

Maybe, he wasn't used to telling people an emotional story that's why he kept on distracting himself.

He was uncomfortable.

"To change the scenery dad decided that the family moved to England. My mom saw you playing in our landscape garden and she immediately attached herself to you. She didn't need to take sleeping pills to cure her insomnia. She quit going to her three-year therapy just so she could bond more with you. She recovered from her depression because she was happy and content just by interacting with you, Diana."

His grey eyes glinted like diamonds, but then it fluttered shut as if remembering long-forgotten memories. "Dad noticed that her fondness had turned into an obsession when it's obvious that she cared about you more than his sons so we moved back to Greece to keep her away from you. When he broke your bond, mom had a mental breakdown then became addicted to dolls as a way of coping up."

I gasped, speechless for a little while because I don't know how to react. I had no idea this whole mess happened without me knowing. I was probably too young to understand if they told me everything

"Darius, I appreciate you telling your story after so many years of not knowing what's going on with your family but what does this have to do with your mother?" I huffed at all these sudden revelations.

"I told you my mum liked you when we were kids." He said as if that answered all of my questions of why I was here in the first place.

It's been ten years. Why did Darius even come back to see me? Her mother's addiction to dolls must have worsened.

This entire thing was orchestrated just because his mother was obsessed with me?

I snapped. "You wanted to marry me because your mother liked me?"

I blinked slowly, gaining my composure. I needed to process this slowly or else I would faint on the spot. Now, that's an ugly sight.

I leaned my body heavily on the steel banister and massaged my aching temples. I'm so close to seeing black and green spots at my peripheral vision. As if on cue, my stomach rumbled loud enough for the whole crew to hear.

"I forgot you haven't eaten yet. You need food." Darius whispered, his breath rushing over my ear and making shivers trickle down my spine like water. "I'm sorry I bore you with a sob story. Let's continue this back at the cabin. I already cooked breakfast for you."